Jo Lupo Doesn't Cry
by Zen Clarke
Summary: Jo Lupo didn't cry. That was a fact that everybody in Eureka knew to be true. Set somewhere after S4Ep9. A missing scene. Possible spoilers. Zoe and Jo have a little talk. Slight Zane/Jo.


Jo Lupo didn't cry.

That was a fact that everybody in Eureka knew to be true. The Enforcer who had tendencies to taze people in the ass and throw people in jail just because she felt like it had never shed a tear in her life.

So when Zoe Carter came downstairs at 2am to find the very same (or as far as she knew, the same) Jo Lupo, sitting on the kitchen counter with a pint of ice cream and quiet tears rolling down her face, she was astonished and just a little worried.

"Jo?" she whispered quietly. The other woman jumped in surprise, then quickly tried to wipe away the tears and held out the ice cream jar.

"Ice cream?" she offered shakily. Zoe's eyebrows knit up in concern. She took the jar and set it a little further away on the counter.

"Jo, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jo said, trying to shake off the question with a laugh. It didn't work well. "I couldn't sleep is all."

Zoe narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Josefina Lupo, if you don't tell me right now—"

Jo cut her off, annoyed, "I don't care if you _are_ the daughter of the man who's kind enough to let me stay here; call me Josefina again, and I _will_ tazer your ass all the way to my jail cell."

Zoe smirked. "There's the Lupo I know." This brought out a small smile from the woman, but Zoe could still see the distress in her face. She frowned. "Come on, Jo. Tell me what's wrong. Please?"

Jo sighed, looking down at her lap. "Fine." Zoe's face lit up as she grabbed Jo's hand and dragged her over to the couch, grabbing the ice cream and another spoon along the way. It was another few minutes before Jo gathered her words (and her courage) to speak again. "It's about this…guy…" Zoe's smirk was back in place as she ate a spoonful of ice cream excitedly, nodding her head in encouragement. A part of Jo groaned; God did she hate girl talk. "I'm…in love with him, but he would never in a million years think of me like that. Plus, he has a girlfriend."

Zoe scoffed. "Jo, you're _hot_. All the guys around Eureka think so. Heck, some of the girls think so, too, if you know what I mean." She winked. Jo rolled her eyes, remembering the conversation they'd had when they'd first met at the sheriff's office. A part of her wondered if they'd had that conversation in this universe. Another part wondered if they had, but Zoe still had suspicions. She mentally shook herself as she realized Zoe was talking again. "Yeah, they're probably a little scared of you, but if they got to know you like Dad and I do? They'd be head-over-heels for you in no time. And if they're not willing to take the time _to_ get to know you? Well, they're just not worth it. And seriously, another woman, Jo? I bet you'd be able to seriously kick her—"

"_Zoe_…"

"What? I was gonna say 'butt,'" the girl replied innocently.

Jo shook her head, sadly. "Zoe, you don't understand. This girl…she means a lot to me. I wouldn't want to hurt her."

Zoe scoffed. "If you care so much about her, I'm guessing she cares about you. In which case, she never should have gone out with him in the first place. What kind of a friend does that? I'll tell you, a total bi—"

"Zane!" Jo blurted out. It took both women by complete surprise, and she closed her eyes tight to avoid seeing Zoe's outraged face. "I'm in love with Zane." Silence. Then,

"Oh my God. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Jo!" She opened her eyes to see a look of astonishment on Zoe's face. "Why didn't you _say_ something?"

Jo blinked. "Because I didn't want to hurt you," she said like it was obvious.

"Hurt me?" Zoe asked, confused. She shook her head and smiled. "Jo, I can't believe you'd just let me swoop in and steal your guy like that! I don't even like him like that that much!"

Now Jo was really confused. "But…I thought…?"

Zoe laughed and shook her head. "Don't get me wrong; Zane is _hot_. But as far as conversation and personality goes…he's really not my type. We realized that after the first date. We were only pretending to still go out to screw with my dad's head. Jo, you should have told me!" Jo couldn't help the smile that was slowly spreading across her face. The guilt that had been building inside of her for months, guilt for letting herself kiss Zane, and guilt for a part of her, no matter how small, hating Zoe for being with him, dissipated. "I have to call him."

The smile vanished. "What? No, Zoe." The girl had already pulled out her phone. Jo snatched at it and put it behind her on the couch.

"Jo!" Zoe snapped in indignation.

"Zoe, look. This is my problem, let me deal with it my way, okay? Besides, it's 2:30am. A just-woken-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-the-world's-not-on-fire Zane is not a Zane anyone should ever see. Trust me. I know."

Zoe's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion at this, but she nodded. "Alright. But I _will_ call him in the morning and say that we have to break up for real."

"What will you tell him if he asks?" Jo asked concerned.

"That I figured if Dad thinks we're going out for too much longer he'll have an aneurism." Jo laughed. It was true. Every time he saw Zane, the whole left side of Carter's face began to twitch.

After another few minutes of talking and finishing off the ice cream, Zoe got up to go back to bed. Jo stood as well, but hesitated by the couch as Zoe headed up the stairs.

"Zoe?" she called softly.

The girl turned, a smile on her face. "Yeah, Jo?"

Jo was quiet for a moment, before finally saying, "Thank you."

Zoe's smile grew wider. "No thanks necessary, Jo." She then turned and climbed the rest of the stairs. Jo stood there a moment longer, empty ice cream carton in hand. Slowly, she smiled. The first true smile she'd worn in this entire timeline. Perhaps this world wouldn't turn out to be so bad, after all.

No, Jo Lupo didn't cry. The Jo that knew every type of gun ever invented backwards and forwards as well as she knew the alphabet (which she also knew backwards and forwards). The Jo that could kill a man with her thumb, whom every criminal they'd ever caught was terrified of, who could beat just about any guy at Call of Duty. That Jo didn't cry.

But every once in a while, Josefina Lupo, the girl who wanted to be a dancer, who had lost her mother when she was still very small, who hadn't had a Christmas with her brothers in years. The girl who liked to wear sundresses to church and go to brunch afterwards with her boyfriend, the girl who had her heart shattered into a million pieces every time she saw the man she loved who didn't love her back. That Josefina did cry, when the occasion called for it.


End file.
